Published 17th April 2023
Vitamin C 50mg - This is 57% of RDI and is a reasonable inclusion and dose for joint health supplements, nothing to complain about here. It's only really helpful at treating a relatively uncommon deficiency, but even subclinical (small deficiencies) can cause an increase in joint pain. [3]
Tamasteen 300mg
Tamarind Seed Extract - Tamarind is quite a new ingredient for treating joint pain, it's mostly been tested on none arthritis pain [4] which is good [5], or at least until you realise that the most effective dose is 400mg [4]. And this blend is 300mg. It can have some effect at 250mg, but even this is unlikely to be the dose in Joint Food.
Mangosteen - All of the mangosteen studies are on animals [6] and typically speaking these things don't translate very well to human trials. As a result we doing rate the inclusion of Mangosteen for chronic joint pain.
Turmeric Extract - As we mentioned in the intro, turmeric extracts are good ingredients for joint pain supplements, the problem is, that you need to have 500mg as a minimum. And that has to be the curcumin extract, which on average only makes up 20% of turmeric. [7]
Proprietary Blend 367mg
MSM - To be effective MSM has to be dosed at 3 grams to be effective for joint pain relief, meaning that it would need to be almost 10X larger than the entirety of this proprietary blend. As such whilst MSM is listed as the largest ingredient, we have to hope that it doesn't take up much more than 100mg. If the other ingredients here are to be dosed in their effective amounts. [8]
Bromelain - Bromelain is normally effective at around 100mg, which seems likely to be correctly dosed judging by the layout of the blend. It's been shown in several trials to be effective at reducing joint inflammation, although there are many more effective ingredients. [9]
Hyaluronic Acid - This is a pretty poor inclusion, the main issue is that whilst hyaluronic acid injections may be effective at reducing joint inflammation, it doesn't seem to work orally. Most studies show it to be ineffective for joints and only effective for skin [10], but those that do have it in much higher doses as hyaluronic acid is digested and broken down in the stomach. It is quite common in lower quality joint health supplements, and is normally dosed at around 50mg, meaning that we expect the next ingredient, (boswellia, which needs to be dosed over 100mg is going to be ineffective as a result).
Boswellia - Boswellia needs to be dosed at over 100mg, [11] this is mathematically impossible based on the blend ingredients list as they are required to be listed from largest to smallest. So even though the ingredient is a reasonably well backed one for a joint pain relief supplement, it's not a good inclusion for our joint food review.
Cetyl myristoleate - The only human study to show Cetyl myristoleate actally worked in humans required a dose of 250mg. [12] So whilst it has shown some potential to relieve pain for osteoarthritis patient it isn't possibly dosed high enough here.
Collagen Type ii - Seeing as the standard dose in most joint health supplements that include collegan type ii is 10mg, it's quite likely that as the smallest ingredient in the list that's how it's dosed. [13] [14]
Is Joint Food A Scam?
Considering their marketing approach, we'd be inclined to say yes, it's not that it won't do anything, it just overpromises and is misleading with how it suggests the product works claiming to have effective ingredients, which it does, just not in the correct dosages.
Does Joint Food Have A Money Back Guarantee?
In theory Joint Food has a 60 day return policy, but this isn't as comprehensive as some of the competition, for example FlexAgain which offers a 90 day refund policy.
References
1 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5003001/
2 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5372953/
3 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5391567/
4 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6643110/
5 - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26059174/
6 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6282431/
7 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5664031/
8 - https://www.arthritis.org/health-wellness/treatment/complementary-therapies/supplements-and-vitamins/supplement-and-herb-guide-for-arthritis-symptoms
9 - https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/bromelain
10 - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34203487/
11 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7368679/
12 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5340442/
13 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7222752/
14 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4015808/